Neilson - John - Profile - Pistard - 03Q P560S2D1P0952

John Neilson (July 17, 1776 – February 1, 1848) was a

Scots-Quebecer Scots-Quebecers () are Quebecers who are of Scottish descent. Background Few Scots came to Quebec (then New France) before the Seven Years' War. Those who did blended in with the French population. Perhaps the first Scot to settle was Abra ...

editor of the newspaper '' La Gazette de Québec/The Quebec Gazette'' and a politician.

Biography

Born in Dornal,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, Neilson arrived in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

in 1791 to work for his uncle's printing company, which he inherited in 1793. Elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. The lower house consisted of ele ...

in a

bye-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is ...

in 1818, he was re-elected until 1830 and supported the

Parti canadien The Parti canadien () or Parti patriote () was a primarily francophone political party in what is now Quebec founded by members of the liberal elite of Lower Canada at the beginning of the 19th century. Its members were made up of liberal pro ...

. In 1823, he accompanied

Louis-Joseph Papineau Louis-Joseph Papineau (October 7, 1786 – September 23, 1871), born in Montreal, Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the ''seigneurie de la Petite-Nation''. He was the leader of the reformist Patriote movement before the Lower ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to lobby against the Union project in the name of the majority of the MPs in the

. Again, in 1828 he was part of a delegation sent to

to present his party's demands for reform. In 1830, he took his distance from the

Parti patriote The Parti canadien () or Parti patriote () was a primarily francophone political party in what is now Quebec founded by members of the liberal elite of Lower Canada at the beginning of the 19th century. Its members were made up of liberal prof ...

, which he considered to be too radical. He opposed the

Ninety-Two Resolutions The Ninety-Two Resolutions were drafted by Louis-Joseph Papineau and other members of the ''Parti patriote'' of Lower Canada in 1834. The resolutions were a long series of demands for political reforms in the British-governed colony. Papineau had b ...

of 1834, a rewrite of the 1828 demands for reform with a radical tone. In 1837, he was named to the Executive Council and Legislative Council. Neilson was a member of the Special Council that administered Lower Canada after the

Lower Canada Rebellion The Lower Canada Rebellion (french: rébellion du Bas-Canada), commonly referred to as the Patriots' War () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now southe ...

. Neilson opposed the Union after its enactment. In 1841, he was elected to the

1st Parliament of the Province of Canada The First Parliament of the Province of Canada was summoned in 1841, following the union of Upper Canada and Lower Canada as the Province of Canada on February 10, 1841. The Parliament continued until dissolution in late 1844. The Parliament ...

in the riding of Quebec County. He was elected speaker, but in 1844, he was appointed to the Legislative Council. John Neilson is one of the major characters in the 3-volume series, ''A Chronicle of Lower Canada'', which relates the events leading up to the

in 1837. Neilson died at Cap-Rouge in 1848. There is a street named after him in Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, Quebec.

Works

* ''Aux electeurs du comté de Quebec/To the Electors of the County of Quebec'', 1820 * ''Letter from L.J. Papineau and J. Neilson, Esqs., Addressed to His Majesty's Under Secretary of State on the Subject of the Proposed Union of the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada.'', 1823 (

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" or ...

) * ''Report of the Special Committee of the House of Assembly of Lower-Canada, on the Petitions Against the Road Laws and the Office of Grand-Voyer'', 1830 * ''Rapport du Comité spécial de la Chambre d'assemblée sur le Département du bureau de la poste dans la province du Bas-Canada'', 1831 * ''Report of the Commissioners Appointed under the Lower Canada Act, 4th William IV. cap. 10, to Visit the United States' Penitentiaries'', 1835
''First report. The Select Committee Appointed to Investigate and Report on the Outrages Alleged to Have Been Committed at the General Election in the Counties of Terrebonne, Montreal, Vaudreuil, Beauharnois, Chambly and Rouville'', 1843

Family information

Sons: * Samuel Neilson (1800-1837) * William Neilson (1805-1895) married Margaret Cassin * John Jr. Neilson (1820-1896) married Laura Moorehead Daughters: * Isabel Neilson (1798-1873) * Mary Neilson married notary Thomas Lee * Elisabeth Neilson (1804-1804) * Margaret Neilson (1808-1894) * Janet Neilson (1810-?) * Agnes Janet Neilson (1815-1837) * Frances Neilson (1815-?) One of his granddaughters, Isabel Neilson married Charles Stuart Wolff, the son of Lt. Col. Alexander Joseph Wolff, a British soldier who was established in Valcartier, Canada in 1824.

Notes

References

* * Tomlinson, James (1972). ''L'imprimerie Neilson'', Montréal: Université de Montréal, 23 p. * Audet, Francis-Joseph. "John Neilson", in ''Mémoires de la société Royale du Canada. Troisième Série; Vol. XXII'', Ottawa, 1928, p. 81-97

Biography

Works

Family information

Notes

References

See also